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Barcelona, Danny Lyon with the series ‘The Bikeriders’ and ‘Uptown’

Barcellona, Danny Lyon con ‘The Bikeriders’ e ‘Uptown’

di Flavia Cruciani

After the presentation of the series “Conversations with the Dead” by the American photographer Danny Lyon, Foto Colectania presents his iconic series, “The Bikeriders” and “Uptown”. “The Bikeriders” (1962-66) is his first big work that describes the coexistence of the photographer during four years with the motorcycle gang Chicago Outlaws and shows their way of life in mid-west America. The second series “Uptown” (1965) reflexes upon life in an immigrant neighborhood in the north of Chicago. All the works come from the collection of Martin Z. Margulies and will be on display until April 17th, 2014. Running parallel with the exposition, the Filmoteca de Catalunya has organised a thematic cycle of movies about the iconic view of bikers in films.

“You put a camera in my hand, I want to get close to people. Not just physically close, emotionally close, all of it. It’s part of the process. It’s a very weird thing being a photographer…” That’s how Danny Lyon describes his way of working, one of the principle impulses of “New Journalism” and of the so-called “concerned photographers”. His series and books show his desire to live the experiences beyond the official history and highlight the involvement that he had with the communities that he documented. Lyon was part of the generation which he photographed and because of this, he was capable of speaking with an authentic voice, understanding in an intensive manner their desires, hopes, aspirations, and in some cases, their rebel attitude against authority. Presenting a big exhibition of his three series in Foto Colectania has had the purpose of bringing the public closer to the magisterial work of this photographer.